Monday Reading: Judges 6 27-31
Key Verse: Judges 6 31
31 And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.
Devotion:
Gideon was a man who believed in God and through that belief he also listened to what God told him. When God said that he should pull down the altar to Baal and put a properly sanctioned altar to God, he had no issues with doing that. Yes he chose to do it at night because he was frightened of what the people would do to him – a wise choice – but he still went ahead and did what God wanted him to.
The people must have had a bit of a shock waking up in the morning and seeing all their own hard work broken down and this proper altar standing with an offering to God on it. I like to think that it was not just a bit of a shock but something that would chill them to the bone. Why? Because this was breaking down their own false beliefs, the one’s that they must have known to be false and that must have been more than a shock to the system. When we are faced with something that we know is false on the inside, nothing that can be done will change that feeling for us.
Joash knew that what his son was doing was absolutely right and he was not about to back down and allow people to run him down. So instead of going with the flow and allowing people to continue saying that this Baal god was something special, he turned it right back on the people and said “If this Baal is so special, then allow him to show us that he is by defending his own word”. God has always made sure that we are in no doubt about the fact that He is God. He has given us so many examples and situations that we should never be in any doubt – and yet we still doubt!
Joash now had no doubts that God was real and that Baal was a false god that had no right to be worshipped at all. He was so convinced that he turned this right back in Baal’s face by tempting him to retaliate knowing that nothing would happen; and now he no longer wished to tempt God at all because he knew that God was and is to be feared! God is our Creator and He is God! Joash was no longer going to trifle with God like his fellow men were doing…
Points to Ponder:
What does it take for you to listen?
Are you trifling with God’s ways still?
Sunday Reading: Judges 6 1-6
Key Verse: Judges 6 4
4 And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.
Devotion:
When we look back on the life of the Israelites we may think about what they have done and wonder how they ever turned away from God when we see the things that happened to them. We may wonder how they could ignore a God who did such amazing miracles and supplied their every need. Or, if we are in that sort of mood, we could look at what was happening to them at times and ask why such terrible things were allowed to happen to them?
All we really need do is to compare life back then with life now and we will see just how Just our God is. When we conspire to work against Him then we will find that He will do things to stop us working against Him. When we get up and do things for Him then we see how He supports us and guides us. The same can be said for people back then as well; all throughout history the same has continued to be true – God continues to uphold righteousness and to punish sin… because He is just!
Under Deborah and Barak the Israelites tended to listen to God and found that they were able to live a goodly life. But when they started back worshipping other gods and idols they quickly found that God would not tolerate it – especially after several warnings. The Israelites were now hiding from the enemy, trying to hide food from them too because of the robbing and looting. Everything was being taken away from them because they were turning their backs on their God!
Eventually they did the right thing. They cried out to God. That is what God has demanded from the beginning, that man acknowledges that He is the Creator, the one who has made everything for us, the one who wants to continue supplying everything for us, the one we need to depend on for everything. When they did cry out to Him, they had to be reminded of all the things that God had done for them so that they would keep that knowledge with them and learn from it. The same is true for us now because we do still need to remember all that God has done for us from the beginning of time. There may not be any way we can remember it all, but remembering that God is the only God and that He is the Holy and Just one that chose us to love is core to our living with Him and depending on Him.
Points to Ponder:
Do you always acknowledge God?
Do you expect Him to acknowledge you when you ignore Him?
Saturday Reading: 2 Corinthians 12 7-10
Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 12 9
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Devotion:
I don’t think I quite got round to this devotion yesterday so we try again today; I guess that God continues to make sure that we have more than an abundance of things to learn from His Word and just a little squirt each day sometimes is not quite enough to fit in what one has to say. Oh that I could talk to more of the world each day about my Awesome God!
One of the things that we will always find is that when we start to enjoy our life with God we are going to meet the evil one as well. When we start to take God with us in everything that we do then we are also going to find that someone else wants to butt in and spoil things just as much as we want to enjoy things with God. Satan is always going to try to throw the spanner into our works – there is no way that he can throw it into God’s Works, but he sure can spoil things for us. But no matter how much he does spoil things for us, God is always going to make sure that we have a wonderful and certain future up ahead.
God may well allow Satan to do some things in our lives but He will never allow too much to come in for us to handle. We may well feel like we cannot handle things or that we have to give up with things, but as soon as we turn round and rely on God we will see just how special He really is! We will see that wonderful love that He has for us. We will see that amazing grace that will lift us up when we fall. And then we will begin to realise that no matter how much the evil one puts in our path, no matter how much we have to put up with or endure, His grace, God’s grace is surely sufficient to allow us to cope.
When I see obstacles and mountains in my way I know that God is preparing me for something special. I am definitely not a masochist and I do like to look for the easy way, but when I come face to face with things in my life I know that God is with me and that if I do listen to Him I will always get the very best advice to carry me through anything in my life!
Points to Ponder:
Do you shy away from hard work?
Are you allowing God to show you His ways?
Friday Reading: 2 Corinthians 4 6-10
Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 4 8
8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
Devotion:
We know that God gave us His Son so that we could have eternal life, but what we may not always remember so well is that God gave us His Son so that we could be strengthened to walk with His every day. We certainly do not need to be perfect as Christ was to be able to do things for God; Christ has made sure that we can do things for Him through everything He achieved whilst here as a human. He may remind us that we are sinners and He may point out the things in our lives that should not be there – but He still wants to use us!
You do not have to look much furthers than to many poor places in the world to get a perfect example of this. People will not go to the shop to buy a brand new container to fetch water in from the well; instead they use whatever container they have to hand, something that is ready to be used. God does not expect us to be perfect from the shop because He has already seen us used and abused. Instead He wants us to realise that we are useful and that we can be used of Him. The best chance that we have of being used by Him is if we are willing to stay in a reasonable state so that we can be used.
As long as a container is clean on the inside it can be used quite safely to carry clean water. Because Christ has already shouldered the sin debt for us, we can be clean on the inside if we ask Him to cleanse us. When we ask for that forgiveness, He is more than willing and able to cleanse us from all of our sin, making us clean and hence useful once again. Never be distracted by the dirt of this world because it is not permanent when we have Christ on our side.
No matter how much the world will throw at us we shall be able to stand on God’s Word and fully rely on God. No matter how many people will persecute us or step on us, we can be sure that Christ has a firm grip on us and will never let us go. No matter how much dirt the world will lower on us, it is Christ who cleans us on the inside so that we can continue to be used effectively by Him.
Points to Ponder:
Do you worry about your worth?
Do you realise that Christ chose you?
Thursday Reading: 1 John 3 3-10
Key Verse: 1 John 3 8
8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Devotion:
How many times have people labelled you as being bad in some way? I know that I have had my fair share of people dishing out various things about me but I know that the people that actually spend time to get to know me will know that those things are not correct and that my heart is set on God. None of us is without sin; don’t ever think that you are above the law or that you will be able to keep all of God’s laws all of the time – we just cannot do that. But that should not stop us from trying to live a more righteous life than others around us.
Just because the people around us are giving in to the things of the world and are allowing sin to rule their lives, does not mean that we should be going there to keep them company! God would have us to live a life with Him and not with the world because he knows that if we live a worldly life then we are going to fall into all manner of temptations and then we will look exactly the same as any other person in this world. We should be the light that shines (however dimly) to show the world that God is different from the sin of this world and that we are working towards being with Him forever more.
Jesus is the ultimate example for us to live toward. He was born of God (He is God after all) and as such cannot abide sin. And yet, because He was born as a human being, He was able to shoulder the sin of the world in our stead! Even though He lived a fairly short life, He did live as an adult in His thirties and He was still able to continue living without sin. He used God’s Word to reject Satan and to live by to show others that it is possible. But because we are born into sin we have already fallen short…
But let that not stop us from striving to live more like Jesus every day. Yes it is going to be hard because we are surrounded by things that will distract us and side-track us from that life with God, but try we should. We do not have to be bound by that sin because Christ has already paid the price for that sin so we can leave it behind. Just don’t try think you can do it alone because God is already holding out His hands to help us through each day – hold on tight!
Points to Ponder:
Do you compare yourself to others?
Are you living for the world or for God?